Harrogate’s Luke Richardson flies to America for World’s Strongest Man

Harrogate strongman sensation Luke Richardson is set to compete in the World’s Strongest Man in America this week.

Luke, who turns 24 on Sunday, is one of 25 men in Sacramento vying for the right to be called the strongest on the planet.

If he wins he will be the youngest man ever to hold the title.

This year’s event is expected to be broadcast to 500 million people in 70 countries. It will be shown on Channel 5 in the UK over Christmas and on CBS Sports Network in the United States next month.

Britain has a great pedigree in the event, with former winners including Geoff Capes, Jamie Reeves and Gary Taylor, but endured a 24-year wait until Eddie Hall triumphed in 2017.

Luke Richardson

Luke Richardson

Luke, who is 6ft 3 and weighs 330 lbs, took the sport by storm last year when he won Europe’s Strongest Man in Knaresborough and finished ninth in the World’s Strongest Man in his first full season of strongman.

This year he has been drawn in a group with Canadian JF Caron, American Robert Oberst, Iceland’s Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted and Russian Mikhail Shivlyakov.

The heats, which begin on Wednesday and last three days, include events such as the train pull, deadlift and pickaxe hold.

The two-day final will culminate, as ever, with the Atlas stones.

Luke went to Starbeck Community Primary School and Harrogate High School and now trains at Absolute Fitness in Boroughbridge and LR Strength Shed in Wetherby, which he and training partner Richard Parish opened.

Great Yorkshire Show ‘monitoring situation’ as lockdown announcement looms

The organisers of the Great Yorkshire Show have said they are “monitoring the national situation” ahead of tonight’s government announcement on lockdown.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to give a news conference at 6pm tonight.

All social distancing measures are due to be lifted on June 21 but Mr Johnson is expected to say current restrictions will remain in place for four more weeks until July 19.

The Great Yorkshire Show is scheduled to take place from July 13 to 16 so the announcement could impact on its plans.

However, the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, the agricultural charity that organises the event, has already included various social distancing measures into this year’s planning.

They include holding the show over four days, rather than three, capping daily visitor numbers to 25,000, reducing the grandstand capacity to 30% and adapting the show to use as much outdoor space as possible.

This has raised hopes the event will be able to proceed as planned but the situation should become clearer after the ramifications of tonight’s announcement are known.

In a statement today, the society said:

“The Great Yorkshire Show is monitoring the national situation and we are awaiting details from tonight’s announcement.

“We continue to work closely with North Yorkshire County Council public health and Harrogate Borough Council.”


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Stray Views: police pledge to tackle fast and noisy cars is hollow

Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. See below for details on how to contribute.


Police speed clampdown is a joke

The police pledge to clamp down on fast and noisy cars in Harrogate is beyond a joke. My wife and I live in Hartwith Drive, a street that has a supposed 20mph speed limit… or so the signage indicates.

Several years ago I attempted to encourage the police and council to take steps towards enforcing the limit. A speed monitor was attached to a street lamp-post and data downloaded. I still hold a copy of the results.

North Yorkshire Police’s deputy chief constable, however, made clear that it did not support 20mph. The irrelevant police commissioner also gave absolutely no support to our case. Years later and cars and motorbikes are still driven, frequently, at well over the 20mph limit. We can regularly hear the unmistakable sound of speeding vehicles within earshot from Ripon Road.

The police should be taking a hardline stance against the problem of speeding vehicles but the sad fact is that they need support from the public and that may well be sadly lacking. There is no point the police making bold statements if they are not prepared to follow them up with action.

Tim Walls, Jennyfields


Boy racers are a daily occurrence

Prior to the recent crash on Mayfield Grove, we have for many years suffered from boy racers tearing up and down our road. Most seem to have removed the baffles from the exhaust.

Every day we have about six cars speeding up and down Mayfield Grove and going up Franklin Road. You can also hear them racing up King’s Road.

I will shortly be setting up a Mayfield Grove and Mayfield Terrace residents association with other neighbours who are concerned about the speeding cars, cars being damaged and drug dealing in the area.

Paul Ivison, Mayfield Grove, Harrogate

If anyone would like to join this association email us at contact@thestrayferret.co.uk and we will pass on your details to Mr Ivison.


Rewilding is great – but plastic flowers are awful

I was heartened by the positive responses to the rewilding of the Stray, which I certainly welcome.

Those who feel that the horticultural prestige of the town is threatened by borders of wild flowers would be far better focusing their ire on the proliferation of plastic garlands, which appear to be the latest ‘must-have’ outdoor decorations at bars and shops around the town.

Not only are they no match for the real thing in terms of attractiveness, they also produce yet more plastic pollution at a time of increasing environmental awareness.

Yes, hanging baskets and tubs take time and energy to maintain but are well worth the effort and I know which most visitors would prefer to see. For a town that’s been a Britain in Bloom gold medal winner, it’s a disappointing new trend.

Gillian Parkin, Harrogate


Great to see wildflowers on the Stray

I’d like to add my support to Harrogate Borough Council on its rewilding efforts.

We need more wildflowers everywhere. The Stray has previously been kept as an ecological desert.

Encouraging wildflowers can only be good for our local insect life and should be widely supported on purely scientific grounds.

Well done Harrogate Borough Council on being led by the science!

Charlie McCarthy, Harrogate


Don’t let Harrogate become a dead town

I was shocked to find all parking both sides of James Street blocked with boxes full of plants.

Only three places were available for blue badge holders. Thankfully, I have a blue badge and parked. Ironically there were some signs saying SHOP LOCAL. Well, people would if they could park.

I know several who go to Northallerton now: easy parking and free in many places. The shops are having a bad time and have been for 14 months. Some have closed and gone.

Please don’t subject us to being a dead town. It’s so sad to see Harrogate’s style and variety taking a hard knock.

Christine Hill, Burton Leonard


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Continuing the best-known name in the Harrogate district

There are few better known names in the Harrogate district than Theakston.

Robert Theakston started brewing beer in Masham in 1827 and his great-great grandson Simon continues the tradition today.

Simon is joint managing director of T & R Theakston, one of two major breweries in the picturesque market town. His cousin, Paul, is in charge of the other one — Black Sheep Brewery.

Despite his strong Masham connections, Mr Theakston is well placed to appraise recent developments in the wider Harrogate district: he lives near Boroughbridge, went to school in Harrogate and represented the Conservatives on Harrogate Borough Council for four terms. He was also chairman of Yorkshire Agricultural Society, the agricultural charity that organises the Great Yorkshire Show, from 2008 to 2016.

But nothing in his long career prepared him for the potentially ruinous overnight impact of covid when the first lockdown began in March. He says;

“We had cellars full of beer that people couldn’t buy and ended up pouring it away.

“Overnight we lost 80% of business. That required us to rethink our business model, baton down the hatches and put ourselves in a position where we could survive as long as possible.”

The furlough scheme saved jobs and the company rapidly converted its visitor centre at the brewery into a fulfilment centre for online orders — something a company that prides itself on tradition had not overly pursued until then. He says:

“Online orders have gone up by a factor of 100, albeit from a modest base.”

Family tradition

The visitor centre is due to reopen on June 21 if the lingering restrictions on pubs are lifted. Monday’s decision will be critical for the industry. Mr Theakston, who is married with two grown-up children, says:

“It’s nice having people going into gardens and seated at tables but it’s much better when people can move freely in pubs.”

Nevertheless, so far the company has survived covid with its 35 staff still intact. It seems a surprisingly low number of employees for an organisation that sells into 20 countries but the business model involves collaborating with other firms, such as Heineken, which handles distribution.

Mr Theakston describes the company as “a medium-sized traditional family brewing company.” And, for all the difficulties of the past year, he remains optimistic.

“Our industry has been through difficulties in the past. We’ve come through two world wars, revolution in Europe, the great crash of the 1930s and all sorts of issues since the Second World War and it just goes to show the robustness of what we do.

“As long as individuals want to meet other people, the role of the pub will continue to be the centre of society.”

Local politics

The future for Harrogate Borough Council, however, is less secure. The local authority, on which he represented Harlow Moor until 2018, is set to be abolished as part of the national government’s devolution agenda. Mr Theakston supports the single council model for North Yorkshire championed by North Yorkshire County Council rather than the east-west split favoured by his former council colleagues in Harrogate. He explains:

“North Yorkshire County Council currently provides about 80% of our services so it wouldn’t be a massive change for it to pick up the pieces. I’m not a fan of lots of layers of bureaucracy.”


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Harrogate Borough Council is pursuing numerous active travel plans, such as the £7.9m Station Gateway project and the pedestrianisation of James Street, to reduce traffic and encourage people to walk and cycle. The plans have proved controversial — does he support them?

“I don’t want to see Harrogate being completely pedestrianised because it will end up like any other town in the country. The idea of being able to pop into town is appealing to people like the elderly. Let’s have a bit of pedestrianisation but not lose the ability to drive into town.

“Harrogate’s such a special town and everything we did during my time on the council was to maintain it as special.”

It has been a difficult year for another organisation close to Mr Theakston’s heart — Yorkshire Agricultural Society — which decided to proceed with the Great Yorkshire Show next month when many other events have been cancelled. Was he surprised?

“The Yorkshire Agricultural Society is nothing if not pragmatic. They will be responding to the demands of exhibitions and members of the public who want to go. It’s more than an agricultural show — it’s our county show.”

Crime and cricket

The Theakston name has also become synonymous with the annual crime writing festival organised by the arts charity Harrogate International Festivals. Under its sponsorship, the festival brings many of the leading names of the genre to the town each year.

Arts and brewing may seem an unlikely match but Mr Theakston talks of beer “providing the social lubricant that lets people enjoy being with other people” and the ventures the company supports also encourage people to mingle convivially.

Recently it has also sponsored poet Ben Taylor, also known as Yorkshire Prose, to wax lyrical about the a pint being a metaphor for social interaction.

Mr Theakston is a huge cricket lover so it’s perhaps no coincidence his company sponsors the Nidderdale Amateur Cricket League and the annual National Village Cup in which some 340 villages compete for the chance to play in the final at Lord’s.

It’s little wonder the name Theakston perhaps vies with Bettys as the most well known in the district — and at least we know for certain the Theakstons exist.

There was a time when its familiarity may have faded. The family relinquished control of the business in the 1990s before buying it back in 2003, and Mr Theakston pledges it will remain in the family, in the heart of Masham.

Can he foresee the day when the business no longer consumes his professional life?

“I haven’t thought too much about when I retire. It’s still a huge passion.”

Knaresborough Bed Race: A look back at the first event in 1966

This weekend was supposed to see one of the biggest events of the Harrogate district calendar — the Knaresborough bed race.

Sadly, covid forced the event’s cancellation for the second year running.

So here’s a look back at how it all started in 1966, courtesy of some photos by Knaresborough amateur photographer, the late Bill Hardacre, whose son Roy sent them.

The puppeteer Harry Corbett, who created children’s TV character Sooty, fired the gun to start the race.

Acker Bilk, the jazz musician, started the 1967 race. Does anyone know how they were tempted to Knaresborough?

Do you recognise any of the people seen in the photos, or have favourite memories of the madcap event that grew so big?

Knaresborough bed race 1966 Pic Bill Hardacre

Knaresborough bed race 1966 Pic Bill Hardacre

Knaresborough bed race 1966 Pic Bill Hardacre

Knaresborough bed race 1966 Pic Bill Hardacre

Knaresborough bed race 1966 Pic Bill Hardacre

Knaresborough bed race 1966 Pic Bill Hardacre


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River Nidd pollution: hopeful signs for fish and wildlife

Clean water is being pumped into the River Nidd amid hopeful signs that most fish survived last weekend’s category one major pollution incident.

A 12-mile stretch between Gouthwaite reservoir and Hampsthwaite turned chocolate brown on Saturday, prompting fears for the predominantly trout and grayling that inhabit the water and other forms of river life.

Yorkshire Water issued a statement on Sunday saying it had suspended safety work at Gouthwaite by its contractor Mott MacDonald Bentley, which it is thought may have stirred up huge quantities of silt.

River Nidd pollution

The River Nidd turned chocolate brown.

The company is excavating a trench as part of a long-term project to install a siphon at Gouthwaite dam to enable it to rapidly reduce water levels in an emergency.

Yorkshire Water has declined to comment since the weekend when asked by the Stray Ferret what action it has taken this week and whether it had conducted an environmental impact assessment before the project began.

John Shillcock, president of Nidderdale Angling Club, last night told the Stray Ferret he had heard from multiple sources Yorkshire Water has installed a pipe and was pumping in clean water from further up the reservoir and over the dam. He added:

“The river is much clearer and the cloudiness has passed on downstream.

“The Nidderdale AC secretary and I visited the river today and were much relieved to see that fish were rising and there was evidence of aquatic insect life.

“So this is good news for now, but Yorkshire Water have not made any attempt to let us or other interested parties know what measures they are intending to take to enable them to continue with the siphon installation without the same thing happening again.”

No fish deaths reported

The Stray Ferret asked the Environment Agency, which declared a category one major pollution incident, if it could clarify what action had been taken this week.

A spokesman said it was an ongoing investigation that would take a while to conclude and no further details were available. He added there were no reports of any fish deaths so far.

River Nidd pollution

The River Nidd last weekend.

Gouthwaite, which is three miles north of Pateley Bridge, is one of three reservoirs in upper Nidderdale, along with Scar House and Angram, which are further upstream.

The other two supply water but Gouthwaite was built to regulate the flow of the upper Nidd.

Gouthwaite is also a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest in Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

 

Covid outbreak delays Harrogate council bin collections

An outbreak of covid among staff working for Harrogate Borough Council has caused delays to waste and recycling collections this week.

In a statement this afternoon, the council said it was the first time a number of staff had fallen victim to the virus in 15 months.

It added some staff were also off sick due to adverse reactions to the vaccine.

The council later said on social media staff were issued with the necessary safety precautions.

It said it hoped to catch up with refuse, recycling and garden collections by the end of Saturday.

The full council statement said:

“You may have seen on social media, or first-hand, that some waste and recycling collections have been delayed this week, and last. Throughout the covid pandemic, our crews have worked tirelessly in all conditions to ensure collections take place as normal.

“By-in-large, this has happened week in, week out with very few delays, while we also adhere to the government’s social distancing guidelines. Sadly, for the first time in 15-months, covid has got the better of us and a number of staff have had been taken ill with the virus or have had to self-isolate.

“In addition, some have also suffered adverse reactions to their vaccines. We are doing our very best to catch-up and have recruited volunteers from some of our other services to lend a helping hand with rounds.

“Sadly, for the first time in 15-months, covid has got the better of us and a number of staff have had been taken ill with the virus.

“We are optimistic that we will have all this week’s garden, refuse and recycling collected by close of play on Saturday. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused but hope you understand the position we’re in. We’ll have a further update later in the week.”


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Harrogate park and ride scheme still being considered

Feasibility work will be conducted this summer on plans to build a park and ride bus service for Harrogate.

A park and ride scheme was proposed in January as part of a series of transport initiatives to reduce traffic and ease congestion.

Two locations in Pannal on the 36 bus route were identified as possible sites.

Don Mackenzie, executive member for access at North Yorkshire County Council, said at the time the scheme “could happen fairly quickly” depending on developments.

But there has been no news since as other proposed transport initiatives, such as the £7.9m Station Gateway project, have dominated the headlines.

This prompted a reader who supports the creation of a park and ride service to contact the Stray Ferret asking what had happened to the idea.

In response to requests for an update, Cllr Mackenzie told the Stray Ferret:

“All of the proposals in the Harrogate Transport Improvement Programme are in the feasibility stage and further work will be commissioned this summer.

“Nevertheless, a park and ride remains one of the measures we are considering to reduce traffic and ease congestion in and around Harrogate.

“The development of park and ride proposals would require more detailed modelling, testing of options and public consultation.

“We need to develop these plans along with other Harrogate Transport Improvement Programme priorities such as cycling and walking, bus priority and junction improvements.”

Cllr Mackenzie added council officers “are continuing to consider both the A61 and A59 to assess ways of improving provision for pedestrians and cyclists, provide bus priority and also seek to tackle some of the most problematic junctions”.

He said:

“By turning our attention to active travel models we hope to reduce congestion and improve the network without the need for additional, costly construction.”


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Major incident opened into River Nidd ‘disaster’

The Environment Agency has opened a category 1 major pollution incident after a 12-mile stretch of the River Nidd turned chocolate brown.

Experts are still trying to assess the extent of the damage to fish and other river life between Gouthwaite reservoir and Hampsthwaite after huge quantities of silt flowed downstream on Saturday.

Anglers and ecologists are calling for action against whoever is responsible and urging the Environment Agency and Yorkshire Water, which was carrying out safety work at Gouthwaite, to come up with a recovery plan.

An Environment Agency spokesman said today it “continued to investigate” the Yorkshire Water works, which is is thought may have stirred up the silt that flowed downstream on Saturday.

The spokesman added:

“Large quantities of silt in a river can harm fish and smother aquatic plants and invertebrates, starving them of light and oxygen.

“Whilst there is no longer any silt entering the river system, it may still be visible as it moves downstream. The Environment Agency continue to monitor the situation and assess the impacts to determine what further action may be necessary.”

With the water still discoloured, it remains difficult to assess the impact on river life.

The work at Gouthwaite dam

The work at Gouthwaite dam

Dr. John Shillcock, president of Nidderdale Angling Club and a former ecology officer in the area, said:

“In my past experiences, quantities of sediment of this type block out light and can reduce oxygen levels in the river, harming or even killing river life including invertebrates and other organisms on which fish and other river life depend.

“We are awaiting reliable data on the level of sedimentation before we can assess what damage has been done to an extremely precious river system.

“We would like Yorkshire Water to work closely with the Environment Agency to collect as much data and samples as to work out the best course of action to minimise the immediate danger to river life, and to build a deliverable long-term strategy to enable the river to recover from this avoidable incident as quickly as possible.”


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The affected stretch of the Nidd is known for grayling and trout.

One angler, who asked not to be named, said the amount of silt would harm oxygen levels on which fish depend. He added:

“There should be some sort of action against whoever is responsible for this. It is an environmental disaster.”

‘Heartbreaking to see’

Alastair Ferneley, vicar of Holy Trinity Church, Dacre Banks, said:

“It’s just heartbreaking to see at the moment — it makes me feel sick in the pit of the stomach.

“As I understand it the slit could choke all the bottom dwelling invertebrates and take out the entire food chain — all the things I watch for: dippers, kingfishers, otters, most of the flying insects that spawn in the rivers, the birds and bats that feed on them.

“I’m hoping it won’t be as bad as a I fear it could be. What we need is a good flood to two to clear the silt out and quickly, but not sure that’s very likely.

“It’s a taste of how fragile the environment and everything that depends on it is.”

A Yorkshire Water spokeswoman said it had nothing to add to its statement yesterday, which said it was working with the Environment Agency to investigate what had caused the sediment in the River Nidd to be disturbed. The statement added:

“We’ve temporarily suspended some work our capital partners Mott MacDonald Bentley were doing upstream at Gouthwaite reservoir while we investigate.”

 

 

Harrogate school reaches national equestrian championships

Three equestrian teams from Harrogate Grammar School have reached the final of the national championships.

Two of the school’s dressage teams and one Jumping with Style team qualified for the final rounds of the event, and three students qualified individually.

They will now travel to the national championships at Addington Manor Equestrian Centre, Buckinghamshire, in October.

The event is run by the National Schools Equestrian Association.

Beth Harrison - dressage

Beth Harrison

Julie Curran, the biology teacher who runs the equestrian team, said:

“This is our best ever equestrian achievement as a school and I’m exceptionally proud.

“It’s a reflection of the dedication of our students, who ride every day in all weathers, and of their parents, who put in so much time and effort to support them.”

Headteacher Neil Renton added:

“Congratulations to our equestrian teams in qualifying to represent Harrogate Grammar School at a national level, and to Dr Curran for helping them fulfil their ambitions to achieve excellence.

“The school will be cheering them on as they compete at the national championships in October.”


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The dressage teams which qualified for the national championships are:

HGS Stripes — Sophie Harris (Year 9); Becky Weston (Year 10); Chloe Harris (Year 13)

HGS Red — Megan Harrison (Year 10); Becky Weston; Emily Gaskell (Year 11) and Beth Harrison (Year 11).

The 90/95cm Jumping with Style team is: Layla Brown (Year 9); Amelia Jesson (Year 10) and Becky Weston.

Emily Gaskell and Becky Weston also qualified as individual competitors in the dressage preliminary class, and Beth Harrison qualified as an individual competitor in the dressage novice class.

dressage

The successful dressage team of Emily Gaskell, Beth Harrison, Becky Weston and Megan Harrison